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1995 Paris Métro and RER bombings
– | time = | timezone = | type = | fatalities = 8 | injuries = 157 | victims = | perpetrator= Armed Islamic Group | susperps = | weapons = Improvised explosive devices, school bombing | numparts = | dfens = | motive = To induce the French government to withdraw support from the Algerian government during the Algerian Civil War | website = }} The 1995 bombings in France were carried out by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), who were broadening the Algerian Civil War to France. In total, these attacks killed eight and injured more than 100 people. The assassination of Abdelbaki Sahraoui, a co-founder of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) who opposed attacks in France, was a prelude of this extension of the Islamists' terrorist campaign to France."Rachid Ramda jugé pour l'ultime procès des attentats de 1995", in Libération, October 1, 2007 read on-line Several bombings On 25 July 1995, a gas bottle exploded in the Saint-Michel station of line B of the RER (Paris regional train network). The Place Saint-Michel, the bridges and surrounding streets are full of emergency vehicles. The Parvis Notre-Dame becomes a helicopter runway while a nearby pub, Le depart Saint-Michel, is used as a field hospital. At 8pm, at the beginning of the France 2 news, the announcer states that 4 people died and another 40 got injured in a « mysterious explosion ». At that time, no official sources had confirmed that it was a terrorist attack.France 2 News, July, 25th 1994 on INA website The thesis of it being a terrorist attack would be confirmed later on, as the final outcome is said to be 8 deaths and 117 injured.Julien Lariège, Islamistes algériens au cœur de l'Europe, Ellipses, 2005, p. 113 On 17 August, a second bomb, hidden in a garbage can, at the Arc de Triomphe wounded 16 people. The bomb was composed of a gas bottle with nails.France 2 News, August, 17th 1994 on INA website On 26 August, a huge bomb was found on the railroad tracks of a high-speed rail line near Lyon. It was supposed to explode when the train would pass by. Fingerprints of Khaled Kelkal and Boualem Bensaïd are found on the bomb. A leader of the group, Khaled Kelkal is quickly identified and his picture appears all over France.Hassane Zerrouky, « Attentats de 1995 : comment le GIA a tissé sa toile », L’Humanité, June 1st 1999 He was identified through fingerprints left on unexploded bombs. He was killed on 29 September by members of the French EPIGN gendarmerie unit when resisting arrest in hills near Lyon. Yet the attacks continued. On 6 October, day of Khaled Kelkal’s funeral, another gas bottle exploded in station Maison Blanche of the Paris Métro, wounding 12. Boualem Bensaïd’s fingerprints would be found again on the bomb. The next day, a statement from one of the GIA’s commanders Djamel Zitouni, written on 23 September, arrives at the Reuters press agency in Cairo. He officially claims the « Jihad », the « military strikes at the heart of France » in order to punish its support to the Algiers’ government. A letter was also sent to Jacques Chirac through the French Embassy in Algiers, urging him to convert to Islam.Christophe Ayad et Franck Johannes, « Au lendemain de l'explosion d'une bombe à Paris, un message attribué au Groupe islamique armé dénonce le soutien français au régime d'Alger Un texte signé du GIA revendique la vague d'attentats et prône le «jihad» en France », Libération, October 9th 1995 On 17 October, a gas bottle exploded between the Musée d'Orsay and Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame stations of RER Line C, wounding 29. Investigators would find a transportation card on Smaïn Aït Ali Belkacem used a few minutes before the attack in a nearby subway station.Sophie Bouniot, « Des dénégations absurdes face aux preuves irréfutables » archive, sur humanite.fr, October, 24th 2002 Additional bombs were found and cleared during morning searches of Metro and RER stations, without any casualties. They were often found in restrooms. Increased security mandated the removal of all public trash receptacles, in order to prevent the possibility of bombs being hidden within. Arrests and trials Members of the Armed Islamic Group and the "Kelkal Group" have since been prosecuted for various charges. A number of suspects fled to the United Kingdom. Extradition proceedings against suspect Rachid Ramda started in 1995 and went on for nearly ten years, during which Ramda remained detained in London's Belmarsh Prison."Terrorism and the law: The non-trial". The Economist, 20 October 2005. Ramda was eventually extradited to France on December 1, 2005, in connection with the bombings.UK sends back Metro bomb accused, BBC, 1 December 2005 On 26 October 2007, Ramda was sentenced to life in prison for financing the attacks.French court convicts Algerian of Paris bombings According to the FBI terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann, part of the money used to finance the bombings came from people connected to the Brandbergen Mosque in Haninge, Sweden. Aftermath Algeria-France relations were heavily affected by this events. Chirac refuses to welcome the Algerian ministers, openly saying that the GIA could have possibly been manipulated by the Algerian secret services.Une politique de l’oubli. La mémoire de la guerre en France et en Algérie, Le sociographe, number 46, June 2014, pp. 85-95 The legislation on terrorism in France is reinforced with a new law in 1996 allowing the police forces to do searches even at night.Laurent Bonelli, « Les caractéristiques de l'antiterrorisme français : "Parer les coups plutôt que panser les plaies" », sur www.lemonde.fr, September,11th 2008 Paris also suspends the Schengen Acquis and only stops the border controls in March 1996.Jean Quatremer, « Jacques Chirac verrouille les frontières françaises. L'entrée en vigueur de Schengen serait repoussée. », Libération, September,20th 1995 Vigipirate, activated in September 1995, is still in place in 2017.Matthieu Suc, « Vigipirate : la permanence d’un état d’exception », Le Monde, September,7th 2015 The crisis lessens up with Lionel Jospin becoming prime minister in 1997 and Abdelaziz Bouteflika becoming the new Algerian president.Guy Pervillé, « Vingt ans après 1995: les attentats de Paris, Lyon et Lille reconsidérés », sur www.lefigaro.fr, July, 24th 2015 See also * Boualem Bensaid * Khaled Kelkal * Rachid Ramda * Djamel Zitouni * Transit police * List of terrorist incidents in France * 1996 Paris Métro bombing Notes and references Category:1995 crimes in France Category:Algerian Civil War Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in France Category:Islamic terrorism in France Category:Mass murder in 1995 Category:School bombings Category:Terrorist incidents in 1995 Category:Terrorist incidents in Paris Category:Terrorist incidents on underground rapid transit systems Category:Armed Islamic Group of Algeria Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in the 1990s